E-Book

E-Book 3rd Congress

  • Navigating the Microfluidic Immunoassay Landscape: A Comparative Analysis of Luminex™ xMAP™, LabChip® on a Chip™, and Aptasensors
  • Hossein Rezvan,1,* Fatemeh Behdarvand,2
    1. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of veterinary Sceince, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
    2. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of veterinary Sceince, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran


  • Introduction: Medical diagnostics has revolutionized healthcare by enabling early and accurate disease identification. Immunoassays, a key component of clinical diagnostics, use antibodies to identify and measure target molecules in biological samples, providing crucial insights into disease progression and patient treatment. These assays are widely used in medicine, environmental monitoring, disease diagnosis, and drug screening due to their accuracy, affordability, and low-concentration detection. They also play a significant role in pharmacological studies, including therapeutic medication monitoring. Microfluidic immunoassays are an effective method for drug screening, environmental monitoring, and illness diagnosis. They are useful for many applications because they allow the simultaneous detection of many biomarkers in a small sample volume.
  • Methods: The labor-intensive and complex methods associated with conventional immunoassays restrict their scalability and adaptability. The field of microfluidics, which deals with the manipulation of fluids at minuscule sizes, has led to the development of automated and compact diagnostic systems. LuminexTM xMAPTM technology is a significant advancement in immunoassays, enabling simultaneous detection of up to 100 analytes in a single sample. This technology uses microspheres coated with luminous barcodes, allowing for high-volume biomarker testing. The technique allows for the simultaneous collection of multiple analytes from a single reaction. The unique fluorescent barcodes on microspheres enable the identification of multiple analytes in a single sample. xMAP technology is used in immunogenicity, drug screening, environmental monitoring, and disease diagnostics, offering benefits like biomarker identification and unique assays. A noteworthy development in microfluidic immunoassays is LabChip® on a ChipTM technology, which provides accurate sample preparation, incubation, and detection processes together with automated liquid handling. The chip's microfluidic channels facilitate the sample's passage through a sequence of processes, guaranteeing effective and precise reagent mixing. This downsized apparatus reduces the possibility of cross-contamination and improves the assay's overall repeatability. This technology streamlines laboratory processes like slab gel electrophoresis, using microfluidic channels for efficient reagent mixing. It minimizes cross-contamination, reduces sample volumes, and allows for the integration of various techniques on a miniaturized chip, offering a wide range of applications. Short, single-stranded nucleic acid molecules called Aptamers are used by Aptasensors, a unique kind of biosensors, to selectively bind target analytes. These Aptamers are coupled to a reporter molecule, whether it is an electrochemical indicator or a fluorescent dye. The reporter molecule changes in fluorescence or electrochemical signal upon binding to the target, signifying the presence of the analyte. With their great sensitivity and specificity, Aptasensors have been employed extensively for the detection of a wide range of targets, including infectious pathogens. High selectivity, adjustable qualities, and the possibility of point-of-care testing are only a few of its benefits. Furthermore, Aptasensors have been used to identify infectious diseases, and current research has concentrated on their cutting-edge technologies and design principles.
  • Results: Luminex™ xMAP™ is a multiplexed immunoassay system that allows simultaneous detection of multiple targets in a single sample. It has applications in immunogenicity, drug screening, environmental monitoring, and disease diagnostics. LabChip® on a Chip™ technology streamlines laboratory processes by providing accurate sample preparation, incubation, and detection processes, with microfluidic channels for efficient reagent mixing. Aptasensors, which use short, single-stranded nucleic acid molecules called Aptamers, have high sensitivity and specificity, making them useful for detecting infectious pathogens and providing point-of-care testing. These technologies offer various benefits and streamline laboratory processes.
  • Conclusion: Microfluidic immunoassay platforms have revolutionized diagnostics by offering miniaturization, high throughput, and enhanced sensitivity. Luminex™ xMAP™ technology, LabChip® on a Chip™ technology, and Aptasensors are three advanced platforms with unique capabilities. Luminex™ xMAP™ allows simultaneous detection of up to 100 analytes in a single sample, LabChip® on a Chip™ provides accurate sample preparation and automated liquid handling, and Aptasensors excel in specific nucleic acid analyte detection.
  • Keywords: Immunoassay-Microfluid-Comparative Analysis